Are there real job opportunities in engineering management? High-tech jobs made somewhat of a comeback in 2005, and the trend should continue at least through this year, according to industry human resources specialists.
Management consulting positions also are on the rise over the past few years. Engineers and computer scientists with active security clearances are in particularly strong demand for government and defense jobs.
Overall, Monster says more people with advanced degrees are seeking jobs in the engineering category than in other technology categories. However, Monster also says it recently posted fewer engineering "manager" and "experienced" non-manager job seekers and more "entry-level" job seekers compared to all technology job seekers (see the table).
INDUSTRY GROUPS OFFER PROGRAMS
Several industry associations and societies also provide, and continue to experiment with, programs for engineers that help them cope with the growing business and management demands of their jobs. The IEEE Engineering Management Society (EMS) very recently kicked off a program that's aimed at creating new businesses and better business practices through the integration of technical and business knowledge.
"We're in the early stages of developing this program and are looking for input from managers to share their experiences as they progress from professional to manager status," says Gerard H. (Gus) Gaynor, executive vice president of the IEEE EMS. "Our intent is to focus on the problems that managers face in their daily operations" and develop them into case studies to help guide new managers.
As for formal education, "there is no doubt that some engineers are seeking MBAs and others are matriculating to various versions of a master's degree in management of technology or some alternate version of an MBA in a particular specialty," says Gaynor.
Yet he questions whether an MBA develops everyone who has one into a manager, let alone a good one: " Managing is about doing, integrating the efforts of talented people, meeting objectives, taking the initiative, and above all, making innovation happen."
In those terms, engineers hold up well. A recent survey by the global executive search firm SpencerStuart indicates that nearly a quarter—22%—of the CEOs of S&P 500 companies have undergraduate degrees in engineering. Only business administration majors come close at 21%. The survey also shows that in 2005, all S&P 500 CEOs had earned some type of graduate degree—an MBA, master's, law degree, or PhD.